


The Forest Hills Krampage

by kitmerlot1213



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Betty Brant needs a hug, Friendship, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, Halloween, Psychological Horror, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27270265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitmerlot1213/pseuds/kitmerlot1213
Summary: Betty Brant's cousin visits America and brings with him a very concerning obsession with Krampus.
Relationships: Betty Brant & Peter Parker
Collections: Spook Me Ficathon 2020





	The Forest Hills Krampage

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for fun and no profit. No harm was intended to small children or adults, real or fictional :)

Halloween was never a holiday that caused Betty Brant any actual fear or worry.

Every time she saw bannisters covered in bright orange and purple fairy lights or menacingly carved pumpkins sitting on the front stoops in her neighborhood, she’d smile in delight.

And whenever Betty would pass front windows filled with pictures of cackling witches and brooding vampires or tableaus of skeletons having a ghoulish dinner party, she’d feel a little bit brighter.

She just enjoyed how over the top everything related to the holiday was—from the decorations to all of the haunted houses, hayrides and corn mazes that seemed to crop up around the first October—Betty adored Halloween too much to ever be truly scared of it.  


But that was before Ludwig Moser, her third cousin twice removed on her mother’s side, decided to visit from Austria and bring with him some very colorful stories.

It was a grave misfortune for America that the existence of Krampus and his evil toy army was kept such a dark secret.

To the everlasting annoyance of Ludwig Moser, graduate student of folklore studies, most people in the continental forty eight states had no idea who or what Krampus was; if an American had somehow heard of the greatest half-goat to ever exist, it was usually in the form of whispered tales from relatives in the old country.

He’d made it his mission to educate his cousins about Krampus--he’d taken particular joy in how horrified Betty looked as he recounted an exceptionally lurid story--and Ludwig also made it his personal duty to alert his fellow students at Fawcett College of the existence of the creature.

He covered the student union’s bulletin boards with as many different pictures that he could find and he started the Krew of Krampus newsletter to reach as far and wide as he could and he was gratified that he’d amassed a small group of hardcore fans.

To wit: Krampus was a terrifying horned half-goat, half demon with large horns, a thick furry body, and massive hooves. He was noted for carrying bells, clanking chains, and switches of birch sticks that he used to hit children with. Most importantly, he had a sack or basket with him to haul misbehaving kids away to punish them.

Krampus had his own evil toy army which consisted of the following: Der Klown, a jack in the box , Perchta, a blonde cherub with wings, Teddy Klaue a teddy bear and Nutcracker, a traditional wooden nutcracker. 

The toys looked like their normal non-evil counter-parts but these toys had long sharp teeth, claw like hands, glowing eyes and who were very much alive.

There were also as deadly as their master, gleefully following his commands and eagerly tormenting the misbehaving children.

Sounds gruesome? That’s because it is.

Ludwig downplayed several aspects of Krampus: first, Krampus was a partner to St. Nicholas, whose feast day is on December 6th and second, on the night of his feast day, after the children have put their boots out on the doorstep and have fallen asleep, the saint would stuff the children’s boots full of chocolate, candy and money. 

Ludwig made sure to emphasis that, for the children who have been bad, their boots will lay empty and they’ll have another surprise waiting for them in the shadows of the night. 

The night before St. Nicholas Day is known as Krampus Night or Krampusnacht and as the story goes, Krampus will come out on Dec. 5th and, punish the naughty children by bringing them down into the underworld with him where they will never be seen again.

Ludwig also never pointed out that he’d never actually heard of children being kidnapped and that Krampus was a way of helping kids behave and believe in the true meaning of Christmas which gave Krampus a more positive image.

He preferred the much more blood thirsty version of the creature and his fairy tales got even bloodier with the more Krampus schnapps--strongly brewed batch of fruit—that he drank then who needed to know?

All that mattered is that the Americans understood that Krampus was not to be treated like a joke.

Betty’s mother tried to pass off the stories of Krampus like they were colorful tales—“Greetings from Krampus are now collector’s items in Salzburg”-- but once the reports of missing children came out after a Halloween Krampus Run, Betty could see her mom’s worry.

Thanks to Ludwig’s overzealous tutelage, Betty knew that the 5th of December aka, Krampusnach, was when Krampus made his appearance but due to the half-goat, half-demon’s rising popularity, Krampus was now a part of Halloween celebrations.

National City hosted the first ever Oktoberfest/Krampus Rampage and it was a huge success. Even Supergirl attended and was photographed being swatted with birch twigs and everyone laughed, filled with merriment.

But then the reports of the two missing children whose families had attended the run were all over the news and a sense of anxiety settled in. 

The police weren’t able to find any trace of the kids and when more youngsters disappeared after both the Metropolis and Central City rampages, people were officially scared.

Ludwig had oddly enough not looked surprised or even remotely concerned and that had raised her own suspicions. She did some digging and it hadn’t taken Betty long to discover that Ludwig and his fellow Krew of Krampus worshippers were present at all the rampages where the little ones had gone missing.

To add to her own sense of dread, Forest Hills had announced their own plans to have a Krampus Run and she knew this was her chance to catch Ludwig and put an end to his mayhem.

But she also knew that no one would believe her that a bookish folklore graduate student was behind the abductions without incontrovertible proof.

In the end, Betty knew she’d have to call in the big guns and she was fortunate enough to be good friends with Penny Parker, Queen’s own Spider-Girl who was in turn good friends with National City’s heroine Supergirl Kara Danvers. 

She just wanted Ludwig stopped and the kidnapped children to be returned to their worried families.

In the shadow of Ludwig’s room in the Brants’ apartment, Perchta and Teddy Klaue watched in mild amusement as Betty talked to her friends and shared her theories regarding Ludwig, the kidnappings and “their Krampus problem.”

The toys exchanged evil grins, their sharp teeth glittering in the reflective moonlight. Yes, Betty and her friends were much older than the little people they usually “helped” but naughty children needed to be taught a lesson.

And most importantly, Krampus would be pleased with their diligence.


End file.
